Cassandra's Challenge

by M. K. Eidem

  “Okay.” Standing he goes into his ready room, as much to make a special request as to give the two some privacy. At the comm he connects to Hutu.

  “Admiral, I hadn’t realized you wanted an early meal.”

  “You’re fine Hutu, nothing was sent down. But I need to ask a favor.”

  “Admiral?” Hutu is stunned, the Admiral doesn’t ask.

  “Victoria’s a little down this morning. I was wondering if you could fix something special to cheer her up.”

  “She’s not ill!?!”

  “No, just a little homesick, missing her parents.” The Admiral knows he has a soft spot for Tori.

  “I’ll come up with something special Admiral. She’s awake?”

  “Yes, so whenever you’re done is fine.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Oh, and Hutu, whatever you bring Cassandra make sure it’s a large portion, she’s not eating enough.”

  “Yes sir.” Hutu grins on the other end.

  Returning the Admiral finds Cassandra on the couch with Tori in her lap. Sitting beside them he puts an arm around them both. While he has no experience with little girls it’s time he starts easing some of Cassandra’s burden. He’d promised that ‘together’ they would take care of her.

  “Cassandra tells me you’re missing your parents.” Taking Tori’s hand he looks into her eyes.

  “Yeah.”

  “Tell me about them.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, what did they look like?”

  “You want to see? I have pictures.”

  “Tori…my iPod was destroyed in the explosion.” William’s eyes flash to Cassandra.

  “No it wasn’t, I took it to class that day to show Amina.”

  “You never told me.”

  “You never asked.”

  “So you have pictures?” William interrupts the growing argument.

  “Yeah, I’ll go get them.” Tori hustles off the couch and into her room.

  “Pictures?” He quickly asks.

  “Similar to what you have on your desk of Kyle and Lucas.”

  Nodding, Tori climbs up into his lap with a hand held device he assumes is an iPod. After touching the screen several times an image appears of a man and woman smiling out at him.

  “See this is my mom,” She points to the woman. What he sees is a small woman, with blazing red hair, and sparkling green eyes. She’s the image of what Victoria will become.

  “She’s beautiful Tori.”

  “Yeah, and this is my dad.” Her finger moves to the man. He stood head and shoulders over the small woman, his arms wrapped protectively around her. His hair is black like Cassandra’s but cut short his wide shoulders a testament to his physical strength. While he’s eyes are brown there is no mistaking he is related to Cassandra.

  “That was taken last year on their ten year anniversary.” Cassandra tells him in a soft voice. “Peter surprised Cyndy by getting home for it.” Leaning her head on his shoulder Cassandra watches as Victoria scrolls through pictures telling William about each one.

  “That’s Grandpa Jacob.” William assesses Cassandra’s father. An older version of Peter, he stood with a shoulder leaning against a post, arms crossed against his chest, looking out of the picture with serious eyes that seemed to return his assessment. While his body is aged the strength it held is still obvious as is the love he had for the one taking the picture.

  “You took this.” He looks at Cassandra.

  “I did. How’d you know?” She raises her head to look at him.

  “By the love in his eyes.” Leaning down he gives her a soft kiss.

  Victoria continued to scroll through the pictures until the hatch buzzes, announcing Hutu and first meal. As he uncovers her plate Victoria’s eyes get big.

  “Is that pancakes?”

  “Well I call them flatcakes. You’ll have to tell me if they’re what you know as pancakes. We put this on ours.” Hutu pours a sauce over the cakes and waits for Victoria to try a bite. As she does a grin stretches wide across what was once a sad face.

  “These are awesome!” She exclaims swallowing. Jumping up she gives him a big hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

  “You’re welcome young lady.” Smiling he leaves. With Victoria digging into her flatcakes, William and Cassandra sit down. Lifting the lid off hers Cassandra looks at William.

  “What?” He asks innocently.

  “Hutu seems to have overfilled my plate. I wonder how that happened?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

  “He must have made too much, you’d better eat it or he’ll feel bad.”

  “Oh really?” Shaking her head she takes a bite of the flatcakes filling her plate.

  “Aunt Cassie?” Cassandra looks at her, her mouth full. “Is there going to be class today?” Swallowing she can finally speak.

  “I don’t think so honey, the class room was damaged in the attack yesterday.”

  “Oh.”

  “So what do you want to do today?”

  “Can Amina come over?”

  “I’ll call and see, but maybe we should wait a little longer in case they’re sleeping in.”

  “Okay.” As the three finish eating the Admiral’s comm rings, walking over he picks up the headset.

  “Zafar.” Cassandra watches his eyes harden. “I’ll be there shortly.” Disconnecting he sets down the headset.

  “I need to head to the bridge.” Turning he walks to the closet pulling out his jacket. “You have fun with Amina.” He leans down kissing the top of Tori’s head.

  “Bye Admiral.”

  “Be right back.” Rising she walks with William to the ready room.

  “I’ll work on getting you those codes but it may take awhile.”

  “The transmissions will keep me busy.” She watches him.

  “I’ll have them sent once I get to the bridge.” He finishes buttoning his jacket.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We lost the Talon.”

  “The Regulians attacked again?” Dread fills her.

  “No, they’re shields failed. They hadn’t finished hull repairs.... rapid decompression. FUCK!” William can vent his frustration with Cassandra.

  “How many?” She whispers.

  “835 crewmen.”

  “Oh God William.” Her eyes start to fill.

  “Shhhh…it will be okay.” He pulls her close. “I want you to do something for me.”

  “What?”

  “Stay in quarters today, you and Victoria. I want to know where you are.” Looking at him she realizes he’s worried about the hit the Retribution took.

  “If that’s what you want then we will, but Amina can come over.”

  “That’s fine.” Sinking his fingers into her loose hair he looks into her eyes. “I love you Cassandra, with everything I am.” Giving her a hard kiss that leaves her breathless, he turns to the hatch. “Secure the door.” After securing the hatch she returns to find Victoria has eaten every last bite of the flatcakes.

  “I’d say you were hungry.”

  “It was so good.”

  “Do you want some of mine?”

  “No, I’m packed.”

  “Okay, then why don’t you go shower, by the time you’re done we should be able to call Amina.”

  “Okay.” As the shower starts, she clears the dishes from the table. Walking over to the couch she picks up the iPod. Scrolling back she finds the picture of her father. Gently she touches his face.

  “I love you dad. I miss you.” With one last look she shuts off the iPod and takes it into Tori’s room.

  “Colonel, I want a status report on the hull repairs.” The Admiral barks out as he enters the bridge.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Sensors, any contacts?”

  “No sir.” At his comm center the Admiral picks up his headset punching in communications.

  “This is Zafar, I want all the recorded transmissions transferred to the comm in my quarters. Ye
s, ALL of them!” Disconnecting he looks at Quinn.

  “Something I need to know?”

  “Not at this time. Have you got the report?”

  “Yes.” Quinn hands it to him. “Seventy-five percent complete.”

  “Tell them I want it 100% by 1100.”

  “Admiral…”

  “The Talon’s gone Quinn. Rapid decompression. Their shields failed before repairs were completed. 100%!”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Communications, open all comms.”

  “Yes sir”

  “Attention crew. We will remain at Alert Status Two until further notice. The Coalition is sending three battle ships to support the fleet at the border. Until they arrive and the fleet is fully operational WE are the only defense between the Regulians and our homes. We will not fail. All posts will be manned at all times. All defenses FULLY operational. Make ready!”

  “Quinn, go take you’re twelve.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Listening to him, pride fills Cassandra. This is her man, doing what he does best, leading his crew, protecting what he loves.

  Walking over the comm she connects with Javiera arranging for Amina to come play. Ending the call the recorded transmissions come in. William hadn’t been wrong it’s going to take awhile to search them.

  “Time to get to it.” Pulling her hair back her fingers fly.

  “Aunt Cassie.” Cassandra raises an eyebrow as she chews. “Can Amina stay here tonight?” Two pair eyes plead with hers.

  “I don’t see why not.” She swallows. The girls give each other a fist bump. “But I need to check with your mom first.” With arrangements made, second meal plates are cleared and two very excited girls head into Victoria’s room.

  Reviewing the preliminary scan results, she finds the majority of transmissions are in a group containing only sixteen lines of coding. “For now those can wait. They should be regular transmissions.” Cassandra thinks.

  The codes she’d be able to isolate were all contained in transmissions with eighteen lines of coding. The scan produced several dozen transmissions with that many lines. Creating another query she digs deeper into these transmissions, searching for transmissions with the two ‘signatures’, and moves on to the next group.

  Nineteen lines of coding, high security, these have to be between William and the High Admiral there are only a handful. Running the query Cassandra lets the computer search.

  The final group contains two transmissions, with twenty lines of coding each. Running the second query she leans back.

  If she’s right about the nineteen line codes then who needs more security then a High Admiral? William would know.

  “Here’s the casualty list you requested Admiral.”

  “What are you doing here Quinn.” The Admiral takes the report.

  “I’m here to relieve you Admiral. This is my twelve.”

  “What?” Looking at the clock the Admiral wonders were the day’s gone.

  “What do I need to know?” Bringing him up to date he picks up the list and heads to his quarters.

  Entering his ready room William hears squeals of little girls’ laughter. The sound lightens the weight of the list he carries. Leaving it on his desk he follows the laughter to find mayhem.

  “Alright now that’s enough. Girls! I’m serious here!” Trying to fend off tickling fingers Cassandra doesn’t see William enter the room. “I mean it! Victoria Lynn! Amina!”

  “Looks like you’re out numbered.” Three heads look up from the couch where Cassandra is at the bottom of the pile.

  “I am, help!” Leaning over William adds his fingers to the tickling mix.

  “William! Stop!” Laughing Cassandra tries to wiggle away. “I give! I give!” Sitting up as the tickle attack finally ends she looks at William.

  “Just remember I believe in pay back.” She turns to the girls. “Why don’t you two go get ready for bed?” As they scamper off William sits, giving her a kiss.

  “Looks like you’ve had a busy day.”

  “Not too bad. As you can tell Amina’s staying the night. I figured it was alright.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “Did you eat?”

  “On the bridge.” Pulling her close she lays her head on his shoulder.

  “Are you done for the night?”

  “I have some paper work I need to do.” Thinking of the letters he needs to write he rises from the couch. “I’d better get to it.” With one last kiss he heads to his desk.

  With the girls settled for the night, Cassandra puts the lights on low.

  “Night girls.”

  “Night Aunt Cassie.” Two voices say in unison bringing a smile to her face. She now has two nieces.

  Closing the bedroom door she turns to look around their private quarters. It looked well lived in today. Walking around, putting things right, she wonders if she should interrupt William with her questions. The paper work he said he needed to do had brought a serious look to his eye. Sitting in front of her comm she studied the results of her searches.

  All the known transmissions between the Regulians and the Carinian traitor had eighteen lines of coding. Her search identifying two ‘signatures’, one she knows is Regulian. The transmissions have been translated, and not one of them gives the Regulians the fleet’s coordinates. So how did they get them? Could someone else have sent them? Is her search to specific? She needs to search for just the Regulian signature see if they’ve missed any. Initiating the search she pushes back from the comm. It’s time to ask William some questions.

  With his back to the door William doesn’t hear her enter, just feels her touch as she hugs him from behind.

  “Are you about done?”

  “Have awhile yet.” Reading over his shoulder her eyes widen.

  “You’re writing the families of the men who died.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s your job to notify them?”

  “No. The Coalition will handle that.”

  “But you’re writing them too.”

  “They were mine.”

  She shouldn’t be surprised, this is who he is. He may keep people at a distance but that didn’t mean he doesn’t care. That he doesn’t take each loss personally. Taking his face in her hands she gives him a long gentle kiss. Then leaves him to his work, her questions can wait.

  Checking the comm she finds some interesting results. There are two more eighteen line transmissions sent to the Regulians, but from a different sender. Why hadn’t communications flagged them as Regulian? Opening the transmission she discovers why. There are no words, just numbers. Here were the transmissions giving up the fleet, both times. But how did they get the coordinates?

  Using only the two new transmissions she searches for the senders ‘signature’. Ten minutes later she has it. The same person sent both.

  “Closer…getting closer.” Sitting back she rubs tired eyes. What’s the next step? Who is this new person? How can she find him? Or her.

  Knowing fatigue is starting to slow her down she walks to the closet pulling out a sleeping top, with buttons, and changes. Her mind is still on the latest results.

  Walking back to the comm she sits down cross-legged, there has to be more transmissions with the new signature. Reaching a decision she writes a search to scan all transmission for the new signature. Knowing it’s going to be time consuming, she decides it’s time for bed. Hoping William won’t be much longer she climbs into their bed and is instantly asleep.

  Finishing the last letter, William leans back rubbing his eyes. Such a waste of life, someone would pay. Rising he shuts down his comm, he needs some sleep, he needs Cassandra.

  A new day starts as he enters their quarters finding Cassandra asleep in their bed. Checking on the girls he finds one at each end of the bed, sound asleep. Tucking the covers around each he quietly closes the door.

  “They okay?” A sleepy voice asks as he walks across the room.

  “They’re fine.” Sitting
on the edge of the bed he leans down to kiss her. “You should be asleep.”

  “I will be once you’re beside me.” Leaving her he puts on his sleeping pants, returning to pull her close.

  “Did you finish?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re a good man William Zafar.” Stretching up she gives him a gentle kiss. “Those letters will mean a lot to their families.” Laying her head over his heart she sleeps.

  An irritating buzz pulls Cassandra from sleep. Slowly she realizes it’s the comm with her search results, easing across William she rises to silences the buzz. Rubbing her eyes she tries to focus on the search results.

  “What have you got?” William sits on the edge of the bed.

  “Just some search results, go back to sleep, you’ve got a long day ahead of you.”

  “We didn’t get to talk about the transmissions yesterday.”

  “You had more important things to do.”

  “I don’t now, tell me what you found.” She brings up the previous search results.

  “There are a total of four transmissions from the Carinian traitor to the Regulians. Both sets of signatures match.”

  “That includes yesterday’s transmission?”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t match the signatures to the attacks where they had the fleets location. So I broadened the search to find any transmissions that contained the Regulian signature.”

  “Communications should have picked up anything in Regulian.”

  “They weren’t in Regulian, just sent to the Regulians.”

  “They.”

  “Two, each containing only numbers.”

  “The fleet’s location.”

  “Yes.” Cassandra waits as he stands, pacing, than the Admiral’s eyes pin hers.

  “It’s not the same signature.”

  “No.”

  “Someone else…it’s the same in both transmissions?”

  “Yes.”

  “There are two.”

  “It looks that way.” Waiting, she watches as he runs all the different scenarios in his head. Pulling over a chair he sits next to her.